Swan Queen Week Day 4: Cannon Divergence AU A day late but hopefully not a dollar short. Hook never shows up on Emma's doorstep and Emma isn't dating Walsh.
Emma woke from her dream feeling relaxed and satisfied; her dream lover knew her body better than any other lover ever had. She chuckled morosely, maybe that's why she was a dream lover. She pulled herself out of bed and pulled on clothes before leaving the sanctity of her bedroom to start breakfast for Henry and her.
For the rest of the day Emma was on edge. She couldn't figure out what had brought the feeling on, only that a feeling of unease lingered in the back of her the time she got home from her job at a small security firm, the unease had begun to fad to a distant memory.
Henry was already at the table working on homework when she walked in the door. It never ceased to amaze her that Henry needed so little encouragement to get things like homework and chores done. All of her friends from work constantly complained about their children's laziness in regard to such things. She couldn't remember ever having to get on his case about any of it. "Hey kid."
"Hi."
His frustrated greeting made the blonde smile. "Math giving you trouble again?" Her head peeked over the fridge door to watch his brow furrow in frustration.
"I don't understand why I have to do this advanced stuff. None of this new stuff makes any sense." His pencil was thrown down a second later. "What's for dinner?"
"I was thinking that we could try making lasagna. I know you've been craving it for a while and you think the ones from the freezer are subpar." It was worth the trouble she was going to go through to see him smile.
Henry continued working on homework as Emma got ingredients put into pots and pans. By the time he was finished Emma was adding the noodles to boiling water. She saw a finger sneak into the warm red sauce. She grinned.
"It needs something else…there isn't enough of a kick." Emma stared into the dark eyes of her son. The words he spoke felt like an ice cube slithering its way down her spine. She shivered. A weird sense of déjà vu tickled the back of her mind right before a throbbing headache sprouted behind her right eye.
"Red pepper flakes." Her own words were distant through the all-encompassing pain of her headache. She grabbed the spice and some Motrin out of the cabinet.
The flakes were handed to Henry, for some reason she felt as though he would better know the perfect amount to be added. The less she thought about her son's odd statement and the food the less her head throbbed.
Henry helped her layer the dish and put the last bit of cheese on top. "Want to pick out a movie to watch while we wait for this to finish cooking?"
As expected the boy agreed immediately, rushing to pull out The Avengers before she could even ask what he wanted to watch. That was another thing that mystified the blonde. The boy had a boundless fascination with comic books that had developed one day about a year ago. Now his bookshelves were filled with Marvel and DC while their DVD collection sported the same.
When the movie had finished the apartment smelled of cooked cheese and spicy marinara. The smell was so familiar, but when Emma dug for the memory the throbbing in her head started anew. She left it alone.
Henry tidied up the living room as Emma took the baked masterpiece out of the oven to cool and dish up. They both dug into their steaming plates as soon as they took their seats.
Emma watched as Henry close his eyes and sighed in pleasure. She would have done the same, but the taste triggered a hallucination, "Sheriff Swan…" A woman's smoky voice whispered from the far side of the room. Her head whipped around to catch the shadow of a figure.
A curvy woman with dark hair just brushing her shoulders. The image was gone before she could see her face. What the hell was going on? As the pressure exploded in her head again, she slid to the floor groaning in pain.
When her vision cleared again henry was leaning over her. "Mom?" He said and for a moment he wasn't speaking to her because for a moment she wasn't his mother. As quickly as the thought came the confusion left and she was staring at the face of the boy she'd raised.
"I'm okay." Her voice was raspy but she was able to sit up without her head spinning. The concerned look didn't leave Henry's face. "You should go to bed, Ma. I'll clean up the kitchen."
At first she almost argued, but as she stood up her vision swam and she saw a group of people disappear into a purple mist. She wanted to cry. The sudden urge was so strong that she stumbled away from Henry. What the fuck was wrong with her?
This time the ache settled in between her eyes, radiating into her scalp and every crevice of her skull. She walked toward her bedroom without a word.
As she peeled out of her clothes and got ready for bed she forced her mind to focus on her day at work and the headache began to dissipate. With a sigh of relief she crawled between cool sheets. At least she'd figured out how to get rid of the headaches.
When Henry knocked on her door and hour later she was fast asleep. He tiptoed to her side and sat on the edge of her bed. "Ma," he whispered. "I think I'm going crazy. When we were eating you weren't you, you were the woman from my dreams."
"Damn it!" Regina screamed, hurling a glass bottle from her nightstand at the wall. It shattering momentarily satisfied Regina's desire to crush something. It wasn't supposed to be like this. The spell was meant to let her into Emma's and Henry's dreams not to make them both think they were going crazy.
Henry had been more receptive to her at first, but he wasn't the one who could break the memory spell and with the whole of the Enchanted Forest cursed to Storybrooke again she needed the savior to get her ass back here.
Last night Regina had tried to reason with Emma, but had been unprepared for Emma to be a lucid dreamer. The aggravating blonde had shifted the landscape of the dream and Regina had been too caught up in the moment to realize it wasn't her Emma that was making love to her. She could still feel the blonde's mouth on her core, drawing forth feelings that Regina had tried to bury with her heart in the woods.
It wasn't until she went to kiss her that she realized the mistake she'd made. Emma didn't remember her, and she wouldn't let the older woman near her lips. Instead she had woken up. Regina repaired the bottle and brought it to her hand again. This time she crushed it in her fist, relishing in the pain before common sense took over and she healed her palm. She would just have to try again.
Emma knew she was dreaming, the house she stood in front of was only vaguely familiar. White exterior with a golden set of numbers, 108.
Regina entered the dream only to find herself right back in her house, but instead of laying in her bed she was standing in the foyer. There was a figure on the other side of the door, perhaps she was beginning to remember. She opened the door.
Emma turned to look at the brunette with desire shining in her green eyes. "Hello, lover." Maybe not, Regina thought as she let the blonde into the house.
Emma recognized this woman, she didn't know exactly how but this dream lover of hers with melted chocolate eyes and scarred lip was familiar. She wanted to ravish the brunette so she dipped her head to nibble at the elegant neck being presented.
Regina let her be for a moment, enjoying the sensation of familiar lips on the spot that brought goose bumps to her arms. She couldn't do this again…with a sigh she cupped Emma's cheeks pulling her away from her task. "Oh Emma, I wish you remembered me."
Emma didn't like the desperation in her lover's voice. She didn't like how damn sad she sounded.
"I should go." Regina said sadly, leaning up to give Emma a soft kiss. For the first time in over a year Regina felt complete, she loved this woman with the whole of her being and one way or another she was going to remind Emma who she was.
Emma pulled back first. Regina opened her eyes to find emotions chasing each other through green eyes.
Emma felt as though a fog were lifting: Henry, Storybrooke, her parents, Regina, the curse, Neverland, saying goodbye to the woman she'd fallen in love with. Regina giving her happy memories, saying goodbye to her parents, the curse coming again, driving away with Henry, and the hallucinations that were just memories. "Regina?"
"Emma…" The name was said with the same reverence it had been the night they had made love in the woods of Neverland and every time since then. "You remember." She pulled the blonde back to her, sweet pecks placed aver Emma's face before meeting her lips. "I've missed you so much." Tears leaked down tan cheeks.
"What happened? I thought I was never going to see you again." Emma took in her surroundings. "And how did I get to Storybrooke?"
"You're dreaming darling. I've been trying to restore your memories from in here." White light started taking the place of white walls. "You need to get back here. We need you…"
Emma woke to Henry shaking her shoulder. "Ma, I remember everything. What's going on?"